Process for the hydrogenization of oils.



e. CA VER v Pgjgciss FOR THE HYDRO E IZATI N. or OILS. APPLICATION FILED Aue.26.;1914'. I

1,142,668. V iabntdJpne S, 1915..

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GEORGE CALVERT, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

PROCESS FOR THE HYDROGENIZATION 0F OILS Specification of iietters l atent.

Patented June8,1915.

Application filed August 26, 1914. Serial No. 858,705.

To-all whom 1'13 may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonen CALVERT, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes forthe Hydrogenization of Oils, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the hydrogenizing of oils and analogous operations by catalytic methods. The addition of hydrogen to an unsaturated oil is eifected most advantageously under heat and pressure with intimate mixture of the hydrogen oil and cataresults are improved when in addition to pressure there are repeated shocks or impacts applied to the hot mixture under pres sure. Such a shock cannot be obtained readily by aid of a spray.

According to the'present invention the oil is hydrogenized by subjecting a hot mixture of oil and catalyst under pressure and in the presence of hydrogen to repeated mechanical shocks or impacts. This may be effected by means of a centrifugal pump or circulator or by rotary heaters. As this method of operation involves the use of mechanical means for imparting the shock, difliculties arise in maintaining the required degree of pressure of the hydrogen to secure efiective hydrogenization. In treating o'l'for edible use, it is important to avoid decomposition of the fat and this can best be done by em- 1 ploy'ing high pressuresof hydrogen, such high'f pressures not only preventdecompo'si Y .tion, but they also facilitate the absorption of hydrogen by the fat. 'According to this invention I employ pressures up to and above 250 lbs. per square inch and treat the 'hot mixture of oil and catalyst en masse by mechanically moving co-mingling means.

The apparatus which I have invented to carry out this process and which enables me to obtain and maintain such high pressures Without loss of hydrogen forms the subjectmatter of-a co-pending application filed by me, viz Serial No. 819523 filed on the 18th of February, 1914, patented December 29, 1914, No, 1,123,092. a

. The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate an apparatus substantially similar to the apparatus described in my co-.

pending application Serial No. 819523. I

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is asectional elevation of a suitable apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a'diagram illustrating the rate of absorption with increase of temperature. F 1g. 3 ;s a partial view in plan of a portion of the screen) The mixture of oil and catalyst is supplied with a copper lining 25 and contains a-co mingling device which imparts shocks or impacts to the oil and catalyst. In the form shown the 00-min ling device embodies a v propeller or centri ugal blade 39 at the base lyst. I havedis'eovered, however, that the and rotary agitators 20 in the formof a comb. These rotary or moving parts are mounted on a shaft 6 which is driven by av motor f. The motor f isfin'closed in :1 casing 6 which is isolated'or remote from the vessel a, but is connected thereto by a pipe or The pipe 61 may be provided to a closed container at, which is preferably. -of spherical form to withstand the high pressures employed. This vesselis fitted hydrogen is supplied to the apparatus by the pipe 9. There is free communication between "the interior of the casing e, and the interiorv of the vessel a, so that none of the moving parts require to be packed with stuffing boxes or like packing. To enable this free communication the sleeve 4C0v surrounding the shaft bis provided with longitudinal ports or channels 41, or this sleeve maybe of greater internal diameter than the shaft 6 to provide an annular around the shaft. y

A yoke 29extends from the top of the vessel around the side to support a bearing 42 for the shaft 7). about the comb 20' and this gauze screen is passage preferably. corrugated. A partial plan view of the screen 21 is shown in Fig. 3,

Wherethe corrugated screen is shown sup-' A' screen 21 is fixed ported from the yoke 29 by arms 21% The mixture of oil and catalyst is maintainedat the desired temperature by suitable heating means which may be arranged internally or the speed of the motor.

externally. In the form illustrated-a steam coil 22 is arranged inside the vessel and thls coil has its inlet at 23 and its outlet at 24. 1 5

. In operation any suitable catalyst may be employed. The temperatureis chosen with regardto the kind of oil to be treated. It will be found on trial that there is a comsubjected to repeated i-culating blade 39 repetition of these impacts.

. gensupply pipe.

' 2.0 and by centrifugal paratively small range of temperature at which absorption is most active. showing the rate of absorption and the tem perature follows practically in a straight line law till a certain point is reached when it ceases to have an upwardinclination'and passes over into substantially horizontal line. This curve is indicated in Fig. 2, which is the approximate curve for fish oil. The rate of absorption is also increased with the pressure and especially in the case, of vegetable oils intended for food purposes the pressure should be high to prevent decomposition. The pressure in-the case of food oils should be above 250 lbs. per square inch, and may be as high as 500 lbs. to 600 lbs; per square inch. In addition to the action of heat and pressures the mixture is impacts and the cirinsures the frequent The chief factors of this process therefore reside in the application of heat pressure, impacts and circulation. With this method a charge of oil can be hydrogenized very effectively at a comparatively. low cost and in a relatively short space of time. Whale oil has been deodorized in 20 minutes. and hydrogenized to a hard fat .in minutes. The approach of the point of saturation can be readily observed by observing the absorption of the hydrogen by a suitable gage on the hydro- Withthis apparatus there can be no leakage of hydrogen so that the gage gives a correct indication of the rate or absorption. With favorable conditions fish oil will rate of absorption, however. variesv with difierent oils and also with the catalyst and pressure and temperature.

The hydrogen and impacted, but the impacting is efi'ected in a The oil and catalyst .are raised by the circulating member 39 to be beaten along with the hydrogen by the comb action this oil and catalyst are hurled against the screen 21 where'it is again broken up and exposed to the stream of hydrogen. The liquid then drops into the bottom to be immediately -impacts.

passed through the same rapid succession of Then again not only do the comb The curve comb and screen are further absorb hydrogen at the rate of about 2,400 cubic feet per hour. The.

. sure in a vessel in catalyst are not-mere1y imparting graduated mechanical impacts to iueaeee 4 they also constitute anvils as the oil parti cles and hydrogen mutually impact each other on these anvils. The-functions of the to efiect graduated comminution of the mixture during the process of impacting. The mechanical irnpacting is thus a graduated one. The comb 20 in impacting the stream from the circulating member 39 also splits thisstreain up into smaller bodies and these drops are again further split taneously with the impacting.

ll claim 1. The method of hydrogenizing oils which consists in subjecting a mixture of oil and catalyst to the action of heat and pressure in a vessel in, the presence of hydrogen up by the screen simuland imparting. graduated mechanical impacts to said hydrogen, oil and catalyst within said vessel.

2. The method of hydrogenizing oils which consists in subjecting a mixture'of oil and catalyst to the action of heat and pressure in a vessel in the presence ofhydrogem imparting graduated mechanical impacts to said hydrogen, oil and catalyst within said vessel, and circulating said oil and catalyst to repeat the mechanical impacting frequently in rapid succession.

3. The method of hydrogenizing oils which consists in subjecting a mixture of oil,

hydrogen and a catalyst to the action of heat and pressure atand above 250 lbs. per square inch in a closed vessel and imparting graduated mechanical impacts in rapid succession to said oil, hydrogen and catalyst.

l. The method 'of hydrogenizing oils which consists in subjecting a mixture of oil and catalyst to the action of heat and pres the presence of hydrogen,

saidhydrogen, oil and catalystwithin said vessel, and comminuting the oil and catalyst during said impacting.

In testimony whereof ll have signed my name to this specification 1n the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

v I GEORGE CALVERT. v "Witnesses: i

PETER S. H. ALEXANDER, H. MATHYS. 

